We Can Heal Together
At the end of Black History Month, The Vine students started discussing how they can use their differences from their lives, backgrounds, and cultures to be stronger together. For our project, we started by spending an afternoon matching our skin tones to different types of paint colors like cinnamon, caramel, beige, chocolate, etc. After we each matched our skin tones, we used primary colors to mix together through handshakes to make new colors together.
The excitement in the room was palpable as they watched blue and red become purple, red and yellow become orange. As we finished the project, we thought throughout our differences can help each other when we are struggling. When one person is having a tough day, another can help them heal through a hug, kind words, or sharing some hot chips. We all have struggled this year but we are also all healing together too.
Basketball Programs Bring People Together
Basketball is more than just a sport. It’s a space to learn, grow, and collaborate. Jayden Hurtado, a player on the La Villita basketball team, has been reflecting on what this sport means to him. Even with COVID-19’s restrictions, disorganization, and uncertainties, Jayden had the discipline and drive to continuously improve his skills on and off the court. "I have noticed progress each time I play, good or bad I take something away from each game," said Jayden.
When asked about his favorite moments on the court he said ”building bonds with new people and getting a chance to play basketball. It’s honestly great meeting new players and coaches because everyone has one thing in common which is the love for the sport, and that’s the bigger picture.” Basketball brings people together. It reminds us to work together, have fun, and strive for more.
The Vine Students Make the Best of the Snow
With the Chicagoland winter storms providing 10 inches of snow, this month has been all about the kids enjoying it! E-learning can be a repetitive and draining process, because of this the youth are having a hard time keeping a positive view. Yet, the snow has been a welcomed break in the middle of e-learning. It seems so simple but, it has brought so much joy and laughter to the youth. The creativity that the youth have shown with the snow is quite impressive. They have made snowmen and chairs of snow using milk crates for molds. They’ve made obstacles courses and small hills to slide down, and of course, forts to use in epic snowball fights! The snow has reminded and taught us that with every little resource and blessing we receive it’s our choice of how we use it. The youth are using the snow to its fullest.
Waging Peace on War through 2020
Street Outreach is more than your average job - it’s a lifestyle. Relationships are built through blood, sweat, and tears over years and this one, in particular, was rife with grief and turmoil, as well as community building and healing. It began with an anticipation of well deserved accolades and opportunities to share our vision and work throughout the country. There is a saying that goes, “If you want God to laugh, tell him your plans.” The pandemic not only distorted our reality but it challenged the work in unimaginable ways. Improvisation was a necessary switch from in person weekly groups towards remote programming. We persisted engagement with our participants since our empathy understands that although they are labeled at-risk, we were all at-promise and full of hope at some point in our lives.
Covid-19 hit our community especially hard. We were the epicenter of the Chicago pandemic twice this year and were tasked with ensuring PPE was distributed to our neighbors. Our world was turned upside down once again as the murder of George Floyd amplified our profession to what felt like a year’s work condensed into five days: May 31st until the fourth of June was a week that lasted an infinite amount of time, waking up anticipating the unknown, yet rising to the occasion with an unwavering sense of duty that gave a whole new definition to the title of Essential Worker.
As the second half of the year began with downtown Chicago bridges being raised, uprisings spreading to neighborhoods, and our team working over 16 hour days, justice had not been served; we embarked on a new endeavor to organize community members, giving street outreach experience to become peacemakers in their communities and aide us in waging peace on war. The Pandemic exacerbated the fragile American economy as families lost jobs and our team blessed our neighborhood with food on a weekly basis; feeding our people is the basis of sustaining our economy instead of an imaginary social construct. From our team to yours, have a blessed New Year and remember that we will get through this, together.
Youth Boxers Train and Serve
HIT Boxing is a youth enrichment program that uses mentorship and the sport of boxing to build youth leaders. This season, the youth boxers have been spending time outside of the gym and helping out their community. Weekly they have been assisting Pan De Vida, our neighborhood food pantry, by building food boxes to be used for the food distribution. They have also been at work cleaning the building for youth attending our E-learning programming. Outside of this, the boxers have also been learning basic financial literacy skills from experts in the banking industry, as well as learning how to apply for college and for grants from government agencies. They had a chance to sit down with Rosario Dominguez, a news reporter from Univision, that was able to share her experience and her struggles in college as a first generation Latina and encouraged them to continue higher education after high school, whatever that may be.
The boxers have also been working on a community service event that they will lead at the end of this year. The boxers chose to do a project related to helping out the homeless population in Little Village. The boxers were able to fund raise over $185 dollar on their own and will plan on creating car packages and deliver them before the end of the month to those individuals experiencing homelessness. As one of the youth in our program said,
“Creo que es bueno ayudar a la gente porque hay mucha gente corriendo, especialmente porque la mayoría de la gente sufre de enfermedades mentales y desean que hubiera más gente dándoles y ayudándoles de cualquier forma posible. Además cosas como estas te hacen sentir bien y ellos lo aprecian y les da esperanza de volver a ponerse de pie algún día y para eso a veces nada mas necesitan a la gente”
- Jimmy, edad 16"I think it is good to help people because a lot of people are running, especially because a majority of people suffer from mental illnesses and wish that there were more people giving and helping them in any way possible. Things like this also help you feel good and they appreciate it. It gives them hope that one day they will be able to get on their feet again, and for that sometimes they just need people." (Translated)
- Jimmy, age 16